


The Bridge Contracts

by stationlittle



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Gen, mass effect bridge universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 20:41:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8911207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stationlittle/pseuds/stationlittle
Summary: Shepard and Shepard meet to sign papers called The Bridge Contracts. Happens in the Bridge Universe (a shared Mass Effect universe) where two parallels universes collide and characters from each universe have to collaborate with each other.





	

**Author's Note:**

> You can know more about The Bridge Universe [here](http://omegastation.tumblr.com/post/154395418618/omegastation-introducing-a-mass-effect-shared).  
> Thank you to theoctopigeon on Tumblr for betareading!

Hackett led her into an empty hallway. Their boots made no sound as they walked, as if they were just ghosts on the station. They turned a corner and stopped in front of a large metal door.

It was closed for now, but she knew who was inside. The current bane of her existence, her _alternate_.

Shepard was waiting for her.

"Be nice," Hackett said.

She sighed, "I don't think this is a good idea, Sir."

_With all due respect_ was unsaid, but Hackett was used to it. He merely shrugged.

"That's not up to you to decide, is it?"

"Well, you're asking me to approve, aren't you?"

"Shepard, I'm asking you to cooperate. We're doing the best we can in this situation. You think I'm happy? I promise you I'm not, but this is our reality now. Are we clear?"

She sighed again.

"Yes, Sir. I… I'll cooperate."

"Thank you," Hackett said. _Fucking finally,_ he meant.

Giving her a warning glare, Hackett opened the door and she entered the room. It was small, barely furnished; a lone table stood in the center. Her alternate was already sitting there, his hands casually folded in front of him.

She sat down on the chair facing him. Behind them Hackett closed the door.  


Her alternate looked like he didn't mind her presence, didn't resent it. She couldn't say the same about him. His clean shaved face didn't do anything to hide how soft he looked, how vulnerable.

His eyes were as blue as they could be. They reminded her of the ones she lost.

She would never get that color back.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" the man asked, looking at her.

She snorted, "Hardly."

The more she looked, the more she was sure. This man wasn't her. He couldn't be.

Could never compare.

"I'm thinking we should sign these," he said pointing at the papers in front of them.

A contract made of paper was almost non existent these days. Hackett, that devious bastard, had them made like this to make this little meeting even more official. There were _actual pens_ involved.

She figured Hackett did all of this because of her, to convince her it was the right thing to do. He wouldn’t worry about this other Shepard. Because why would he? The idiot was eager to sign the damn things.

_The Bridge Contracts_ as Hackett had introduced them.

"Listen," she said. "My priority is always going to be _my_ universe. _My_ crew."

"I know," he replied.

He sounded almost amused. Without even looking at her, he just reached out to get one of the pens on her left. It angered her.

"You think this is funny, do you? ‘We should sign these’" she mimicked him, her tone mocking. "Do you have any idea what you're really agreeing to? Or are you really as big of an idiot as you look?"

She hoped he would lash out at this. Instead, he merely smirked at her.

"Are you always this quick to react? How did you even get this far with that attitude?"

"How did _you_ get this far?" She replied. "You look more like a model than a soldier."

She knew he was watching her eyes. He could see how red they were. Perhaps he was wondering what she had done to make them look like this. Staring him down, she told herself she wouldn't flinch now. Wouldn't avoid his gaze.

Finally, he looked away, as if he had reached some sort of conclusion about her.

"If helping each other means saving my universe, I'll sign those papers."

He took the pen on the table.

It was a shock to see his signature.

It was exactly like hers, even down to the stupid way she signed the D at the end of her name. It made her want to bang her hand on the table.

"All these papers mean, is that we'll share whatever information we have," he said. "That's reasonable. It doesn't mean you'll have to give up on your world."

"You don't know what impact sharing this information could have."

"That's a risk we'll have to take."

He was done, his signed papers placed in a tiny pile to his left.

Hers were still untouched.

Part of her was resigned, she knew she would have to sign them. But the other part...

The potential for disaster here almost took her breath away. What if something she told this other Shepard made him do something stupid that resulted in his universe being destroyed?

Worse: what if something he told her made _her_ do something stupid?

It's not as if their universes were identical. Anything could happen.

She took another look at him.

He was holding the pen in his hand a bit too tightly, something that she herself did when she was nervous. She never crossed her arms anymore. That kind of gesture revealed too much. She just trained herself to focus on something ; barely noticeable to others, so nobody would realize how she felt. Always keeping a calm, cold and collected facade.

Or at least she tried. And the way he was holding the pen...

She realized that he was nervous. This meeting was making him nervous, and he was trying to hide it.

But she could see right through him and it delighted her and reassured her at the same time. 

"Feeling alright?" she asked.

It was her turn to smirk.

"Just waiting for you to sign these so I can go back to more important things."

_You don't fool me_ she wanted to say, but didn't.

She smiled at him. If he was startled by her change of attitude, he didn't show it. He just carefully watched her as she took the papers and signed them.

She did tell Hackett she was going to collaborate, after all. And now it felt just a little less like making a deal with a stranger.

"I'll see you around, Shepard," she said, as she got up and left the room, a smile still present on her face.


End file.
